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Insurance plan for the poor

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, June 20

THE Union Cabinet today decided to launch a new insurance scheme for people living below the poverty line (BPL) in both urban and rural areas.

This scheme, to be called `Janashri Bhima Yojana', will cover all persons in the age group of 18-60 years and groups consisting of 25 and more persons would be eligible for this scheme, a Government spokesperson told newspersons after a meeting of the Ca binet here.

The spokesperson said that the premium payable under the scheme would be Rs. 200 per person per annum. The Cabinet also decided that Rs. 100 out of the required premium of Rs. 200 per person will be borne by the Government out of the Social Security Fund of LIC (created in the late eighties).

The remaining Rs. 100 will have to be paid by the beneficiary. The Centre will also appeal to the State Governments to contribute the maximum possible amount (from the amount to be paid by the beneficiary) so that the premium burden of the beneficiary is further reduced, the spokesperson said.

This insurance scheme would provide an insurance cover of Rs. 20,000 in case of natural death, Rs. 25,000 in case of partial permanent disability due to accident and Rs. 50,000 in the case of death/total permanent disability due to accident.

The current corpus of the Social Security Fund of LIC stands at about Rs. 302 crores and the Government expects that these funds could be utilised to fulfill its commitments towards the scheme for at least the next two years, the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet also approved a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement with Portugal.